Liz Kane

The visiting Brookside Christian football team stunned El Dorado Friday night, scoring its first touchdown just 90 seconds into the game as Knight quarterback Austin Caldron’ first three passes had the Stockton team on the board. After the Cougars went three-and-out, Caldron’s 25-yard pass to Javier Rodriguez made it a 12-0 game with 7:20 left […]

The annual preseason meeting between the El Dorado and Golden Sierra girls volleyball teams gave fans plenty cheer about before the Cougars fought off spirited rallies and comebacks from the determined Grizzlies to prevail with a four-set 25-19, 25-27, 25-23, 25-19 victory Tuesday evening. Sitting in the coaches’ chairs were two longtime friendly rivals, Justin […]

Mere hours after defeating South Lake Tahoe 40-34 in overtime Friday night, the El Dorado football team was at the track to run off soreness from its first preaseason game. “The kids are invested in this program,” Cougar coach Joe Volek said “We started preparing in January and when you invest that much time winning […]

EL DORADO — Carlos Romero proved he was ready for his first start of the season Friday, pitching a 3-0 shutout against visiting Lodi in El Dorado Jr. Legion action. Romero scattered five hits over six innings and walked none. Bryson Campbell took over in the top of the seventh and struck out two of […]

El Dorado pitcher Reed Omohundro got all the runs he needed thanks to Hunter Gallant’s two-run homer in the third inning of Tuesday night’s baseball game with West Sacramento. But the Seniors weren’t done. Omohundro’s six-inning shutout performance coupled with an eight-run offensive explosion in the third let everyone go home early as El Dorado […]

EL DORADO — The El Dorado Jr. Legion baseball team scored all the runs it needed with two outs in the first inning of Wednesday’s home game against Cordova. Zach Culp stroked a double to left center and Ian Boyle followed with a towering home run to left. Cordova never recovered, eventually falling to Post […]

SAN GABRIEL — Ponderosa High senior Corey Pereira added to his long list of golfing accomplishments Wednesday when he tied for sixth place in individual competition at the CIF State Boys State Golf Championships at San Gabriel Country Club. The Bruin is the first player from El Dorado County to medal at the state tourney. […]

CHICO — Just one day after winning an NCGA Junior Tournament in Fresno by three strokes, Ponderosa golfer Corey Pereira traveled to Butte Creek Country Club in Chico for the NCGA/CIF Northern California championship Monday. It was Pereira’s second trip in as many years. The junior’s dedication to his game and his tournament experience paid […]

Two El Dorado County boys golf teams and six individuals have qualified for their respective division tournaments next week. Union Mine, the defending Sierra Valley Conference champion, took second this season and will play in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV tournament Tuesday at Diablo Grande’s Legends course in Patterson starting at 10 a.m. Oak Ridge […]

EL DORADO — Union Mine softball pitcher Sarah Phillis had 19 outs and and hadn’t given up a hit when she took the mound in the top of the seventh inning against visiting Liberty Ranch Monday. After shortstop Holly Harnage made the first out with a lunge to stop a hard-hit ball over second base […]

El Dorado senior distance runner, Joe Soik, waited until nearly the end of Friday’s eighth annual Twilight Invitational to compete. Cheering his teammates and helping where needed, Soik had hours to fill before the 3,200 meter race. All that pent energy paid off as Soik nearly lapped the field enroute to breaking the meet record […]

The Oak Ridge and Jesuit boys golf teams were both 9-1 in the Delta River League standings heading into last week’s dual match at Ancil Hoffman Golf Course but when the day was over the Marauders were first all alone with a 184-197 victory. “Bottom line we got spanked,” first year coach Stan Iverson said. […]

This is the second year Scott Gilliland has led the Golden Sierra boys varsity golf team and the former college basketball player is pleased with the growth and the enthusiasm the team has shown. While wins aren’t rolling in, the interest is there. The team has three returning players and is made up of four […]

SHINGLE SPRINGS — The Ponderosa baseball team fell further in the Delta River League standings Saturday, losing both games in a makeup doubleheader with visiting Folsom. After a tough 7-4 loss in the first game, the Bruins suffered through a 20-9 drubbing in the second, called at the end of six on the 10-run rule. […]

The villians, aka the Ponderosa boys volleyball team, and the superheroes of El Dorado clashed Thursday night in a friendly, non-league match for nothing more than bragging rights. The villians came in wearing masks but were not allowed to wear them during the match. El Dorado’s superheroes were in costume, making it a fun night […]

River City lefty Joshua Arguijo ripped the first pitch of Wednesday’s baseball game through an infielder. Two quick outs later, Arguijo was thrown out trying to steal third by El Dorado catcher Chris Swineford to end the top of the first inning. Arguijo would be the last Raider to reach first through the next three […]

Battling the weather has been much the story of the first half of the Sierra Valley Conference boys golf season. Unless greens puddle or thunderstorms move in, the golfers play on. The first half culminated with the first conference 18-hole tournament at Timber Creek Golf Course April 9. The defending SVC champion, Union Mine, which […]

“Frustrating” was the only word El Dorado softball coach Marci Brown could find to describe Monday’s Sierra Valley Conference game with visiting Galt. The teams waited an hour for officials to show up and with the sun quickly setting the game was called after five innings with Galt on top 13-4. It was an official […]

GARDEN VALLEY — Both coaches had similar thoughts about Wednesday’s Sierra Valley League volleyball match between visiting El Dorado and Golden Sierra. “It was a great match. I’m so proud of my boys,” said the Grizzlies’ Glenn Linka and Cougar coach Alan Magat. After Golden Sierra pulled out a five-set victory with Jim Hansen’s powerful […]

Monday’s Sierra Valley Conference baseball game between El Dorado and visiting Cosumnes Oaks turned into an underclassman’s pitching duel, pitting Cougar freshman Nicholas Bonniksen against Wolfpack sophomore Alex Kropp. Kropp held the Cougars scoreless through five innings but for the second time in as many outings Bonniksen delivered a gem, striking out six and surrendering just […]

EL DORADO — After two years of nasty weather it was sunshine for the Union Mine track team’s Distance Extravaganza Friday. The meet included five schools — Sheldon, Del Campo, Consumnes River, Sacramento Country Day and Union Mine competing in distance events to tune up for the season. “It’s a small meet but it’s good […]

EL DORADO — The Union Mine softball team trailed El Dorado 5-3 at the start of the sixth inning Wednesday. It was crunch time and the Lady Diamondbacks needed a big comeback to pull out a win. After lead-off batter, Halie Scott, was hit by a pitch, Christina Auger blasted a triple that drove in […]

LOOMIS — Brandon Claiborne, 13, a member of the El Dorado Hills Wrestling Club, won the 135-pound weight class in the 44th annual Northern California Junior High Tournament of Champions Saturday. Claiborne, who took third last year as a seventh-grader in his third year of wrestling, breezed with a technical fall in his opening match […]

With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning, El Dorado’s Connor Lacher stepped to the plate hoping to put Wednesday’s intra-county game with Ponderosa in the books. Lacher was patient and four straight balls later, he walked to send Aiden McArthur home with the winning run — 10-9 El […]

EL DORADO HILLS — While his school friends are making fun plans for this weekend, Oak Ridge wrestler Keaton Subjeck is in Bakersfield for two days of battling some of the toughest grapplers in the state. Today and tomorrow at Rabobank Arena, Subjeck and California’s top wrestlers are fighting for a spot on center mat […]

The El Dorado girls basketball team’s season is over. The Sierra Valley Conference co-champion Cougars lost just one game during the league season but run and gun Weston Ranch did what few teams were able to do this year — take the Cougars from Placerville out of their game with a physical, fast-paced style that […]

SHINGLE SPRINGS — Twenty-one El Dorado County wrestlers qualified for this weekend’s Sac-Joaquin Masters tournament after two days of Division I wrestling at Ponderosa High Friday and Saturday. Oak Ridge’s Keaton Subjeck is the lone champion of the 21. He needed just 38 seconds to drop Franklin’s DJ Harper to his back and pin him […]

EL DORADO — Tuesday’s Sierra Valley Conference girls basketball game between Union Mine and visiting Vista del Lago was important to the Lady Diamondbacks and coaches Chris and Dave Del Rio in two ways. Since taking over the program the Del Rios have worked to turn it around and establish a winning tradition. This was […]

Behind a well-balanced offense that included four players scoring in double digits, the El Dorado boys basketball team overcame visiting Union Mine 77-61 Friday night. The standing-room only crowd got its money’s worth as the teams ended the spirited first half with the Cougars holding a slim three-point lead. But in the end the Diamondbacks […]

The El Dorado girls basketball team honored its seniors Tuesday and capped the emotional evening with a dominating 52-31 victory over Liberty Ranch. Cougar coach Pat Winter held the Senior Night celebration a week early because the Lady Cougars’ last home game Feb. 14 is a big one with River City, a contest with playoff […]

El Dorado’s boys basketball team earned its fourth consecutive victory Friday with a 69-59 win over visiting River City. The Cougars’ 0-2 start in the Sierra Valley Conference schedule is becoming a distant memory as they prepare to start the second half next Friday against conference leader Vista del Lago. El Dorado, the defending champion, […]

D’back Tommy Callonea buckets game-high 23 points EL DORADO — The El Dorado boys basketball team hung on against a late charge from Union Mine Tuesday to win by five, 57-52, in a game much closer than the score indicates. The Diamondbacks pulled within two points with 48 seconds left but Nick Jemmot’s layup made […]

Referee Tom Stewart said it best. “This feels like a Ponderosa-Vacaville dual,” he said, describing the intensity of Wednesday’s Sierra Valley Conference dual meet between El Dorado and visiting Vista del Lago. The Cougars hoped to go out winners in their final home dual of the season that featured another induction into the Hall of […]

EL DORADO — It took less than an hour for both the Union Mine varsity and junior varsity wrestling teams to roll past visiting Galt Wednesday evening. The dual meet came down to numbers — Galt fielded four varsity wrestlers and five JV grapplers. It’s impossible to win when a team gives up 60 points […]

While celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of a new one, Jeffrey Winchester, 46, of Pollock Pines, will likely look back on the trip of a lifetime. He spent four months thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and he beat the odds, completing his trek at the northern terminus Sept. 30. A record […]

It’s an age-old dilemma — schedule an easy preseason and pump up your record or go head-to-head with some of the best teams for experience? El Dorado girls basketball coach Pat Winter always takes the second option and now, heading into the Cougars’ own Jan Vitell Memorial Tournament next week, the Lady Cougars are playing […]

Dec. 8, 2000 was my official starting day as the sports editor of the Mountain Democrat. Dec. 13, 2011 is my final day. It’s been a blast. Not only have I met some great athletes and coaches, I’ve watched many of our teams reach the pinacle — state championships. It’s pretty amazing to realize that […]

SHINGLE SPRINGS — After mowing down opponents all day, the Ponderosa varsity wrestling team was upended in the final match of team play, losing to Will C. Wood by two points, 28-30. “Wood is a very experienced team and we’re young and still a work in progress … and we’re also missing some kids who […]

SHINGLE SPRINGS — Preseason basketball games are meant to sharpen skills and prepare for the upcoming league seasons that begin in January. The Ponderosa girls basketball team learned it has a lot left to work on after with three tournament losses last weekend and a 51-65 defeat Monday to visiting Placer. Rebounding, defense and sinking […]

Old rivalries never die. The traditional preseason girls basketball game between El Dorado and visiting Ponderosa is as important to the players as games were when the teams competed in the Sierra Valley Conference. For the second year in a row, the Lady Bruins came out on top Tuesday, edging El Dorado 44-41 and ending […]

Today, three teams and one individual from El Dorado County will lace up to run in the CIF State Cross Country Meet at Fresno’s Woodward Park course. Both the Oak Ridge girls and boys varsity teams and the El Dorado boys varsity squad qualified with amazing efforts at the Sac-Joaquin Section meet Friday, Nov. 11, […]

FOLSOM — The heavily favored Davis High cross country team set up camp right next to Oak Ridge Saturday morning as both programs prepared for a day of racing in the Sac-Joaquin Section Meet at Willow Hills in Folsom. And when the Division I boys race was over, the Blue Devils had a ringside seat […]

FOLSOM — After years of being an also-ran, the El Dorado cross country team is emerging as one of the top squads in the area. Friday the Cougar boys earned their second straight berth in the CIF State Cross Country Division III championships, finishing second in the Sac-Joaquin Section meet at Folsom’s Willow Hills course […]

FOLSOM — If there were do-overs in playoff volleyball the El Dorado volleyball team would get in line for another chance at Vista del Lago. Instead, the Cougars’ 2011 Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoff run is over after they lost a poorly played 25-20, 25-9, 25-10 match in Folsom Thursday night. “I wanted to win […]

SACRAMENTO — No doubt the Ponderosa volleyball team enjoyed its 25-20, 25-13, 18-25, 25-18 victory over Inderkum Tuesday, but the best may have been the end when the teams met for a little line dancing and socializing. The Tigers know how to throw a party. Inderkum’s Leona Lafalle explained the unusual ending to the Sac-Joaquin […]